The field of the present invention relates to online access and targeted delivery of advertisements. In particular, television advertisements are targeted based on observed online (i.e., Internet) behavior of a television viewer without employing personally identifiable information.
Some of the terms used in the present disclosure or appended claims are defined as follows.
Television provider (TVP)—an entity that provides television service to a subscriber or user via any suitable transmission medium, including but not limited to coaxial cable, fiber-optical cable, network cable, phone line, satellite transmission, or VHF or UHF transmission.
Internet service provider (ISP; equivalently, an online access provider)—an entity that provides online access to a subscriber or user via any suitable transmission medium, including but not limited to coaxial cable, fiber-optical cable, network cable, phone line, satellite transmission, wireless transmission (e.g., WiMax, WiFi, other IEEE 802 wireless protocols, etc.), or VHF or UHF transmission. The online access enables the subscriber to access the Internet and its myriad online sites, or to access any future network successor to the Internet.
Set-top box (STB)—a device that connects a television and a signal source. The STB receives an incoming signal, extracts content from the received signal, and transmits the extracted content to the television to be presented to a viewer. The signal source can be a computer network cable (e.g., an Ethernet or other transmission-speed cable), a satellite dish, a coaxial cable connected to a cable television system, a telephone line or digital subscriber line (DSL), a wireless network connection, an antenna (VHF, UHF, digital, or other), or another suitable signal source. The content can include, but is not limited to, video (which often can include an audio portion), audio, Internet web pages, interactive games, or other content. An STB may or may not include a dedicated television tuner. Despite its name, an STB need not be physically located on top of a television set literally. Under current technology, STBs often are located physically adjacent to the television set, such as in a media cabinet or the like, but it is not even necessary that the STB be located in proximity to the television. Nor is it necessary that the STB be a box, literally. Rather, a STB might be implemented, for example, as a circuit board, integrated circuit, set of integrated circuits, or software that is physically integrated with another “box,” such as the television, a cable or other connection, a computer, or a building equipment or junction box, which also has other functions, or without being housed in any “box” at all.
Digital video recorder (DVR, alternatively personal video recorder or PVR)—a device that stores video content in a digitally encoded format on a digital storage medium, such as a hard drive, and enables playback of the stored content. A DVR can comprise a stand-alone unit connected to a television, an STB, or a signal source, or the DVR can comprise software that programs a computer to perform DVR storage and playback functions.
Video-on-Demand (VOD)—a system that allows users to select and view video content delivered from a signal source in response to a request from the user. Typically, the requested video content can be viewed at a time of the user's own choosing and can be paused, rewound, or fast-forwarded as desired by the user. A VOD system can “stream” the content (enabling viewing of portions of a requested item of video content while other portions are still being delivered from the signal source), or the VOD system can “download” the content and allow viewing only after a complete item is delivered from the signal source. Some VOD systems allow users to select and watch video content over a network as part of an interactive television system.
Interactive Television (interactive TV, iTV, idTV, or ITV)—any television system that enables a viewer to interact with video content delivered to a television. Interactive television can include, but is not limited to, access to Web sites through TV “crossover links,” electronic mail and online chat, online commerce, or enhanced graphics (relative to standard television offerings).
Internet Protocol Television (IPTV)—a system wherein television content is delivered via a computer network using Internet Protocol (IP). For residential users, IPTV is often provided in conjunction with Video on Demand and can also be bundled with Internet services such as Internet access and Voice-over-IP (VoIP). Commercial bundling of IPTV, VoIP, and Internet access is sometimes referred to in the industry as a “triple play.” Additional telecommunications services (e.g., mobile voice or data service) can be added, yielding a “quadruple play” and so forth. IPTV typically is supplied by a broadband service provider using a closed network infrastructure. IPTV also can be provided over the Internet or other publicly accessible computer network, in which case it might be referred to as Internet TV or TV-over-Internet. IPTV also can be used to deliver video or other content over a corporate LAN or other business network.
Online user interface device—any user interface device used to access a remote network such as the Internet, including but not limited to a cell phone or mobile handset, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or a networked computer (desktop, workstation, notebook, laptop, or other).
Online access device—any device used to connect an online user interface device to a remote network such as the Internet, including but not limited to a modem, a wired or wireless router, a wireless access point, a wired network adapter (e.g., Ethernet adapter), a wireless network adapter (e.g., IEEE 802.11, ED-VO, EDGE, HSPA, CDMA, GSM, or other), or an optical fiber based network adapter (e.g., a network interface unit or optical network terminal). Different types of online access devices can and sometimes are combined into a single unit (e.g., a modem that also functions as a router for a LAN). An online user interface device and an online access device can be, and sometimes are, combined into a single unit (e.g., a computer with a built-in Ethernet adapter, wireless adapter, or modem).
Router—any device that acts as a junction between networks, to buffer and transfer data between or among them. For example, a router can be employed to connect a local area network (LAN) to the Internet, thereby enabling online user interface devices connected to the LAN to share a connection to the Internet through the router. The router receives data from devices on the LAN and transmits them to the Internet directed to their corresponding destinations, and receives data from the Internet Internet and directs them to the corresponding devices on the LAN.
Modem—a device that enables online access by a user by acting as an interface between the online access provider's network transmission system and the user's computer or other online user interface device. Modems vary according to the type of provider network transmission system. Unless a specific type of modem is specified, the term “modem” shall encompass telephone modems, cable modems, DSL modems, wireless modems, satellite modems, or modems for providing online access to any other suitable network transmission system.
Cable modem—a type of modem that enables digital data transmission over cable television infrastructure. Cable modems are primarily used to deliver broadband Internet access using modulation frequencies that are not used for traditional television transmission.
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL, or often DSL)—a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over a copper telephone line than a conventional modem can provide. ADSL data transmission employs frequencies that typically are not used for voice transmission, usually frequencies beyond the range of normal human hearing (higher than about 20 kHz). Propagation of such high-frequency signals over standard copper telephone lines typically is poor, typically limiting the use of DSL to distances less than about 5 km. Once the signal reaches the telephone company's nearest central office (CO), the ADSL signal is stripped off and routed into a conventional data network, while any voice-frequency signal is routed into the conventional telephone network. That arrangement enables a single telephone line to be used for both data transmission and telephone calls simultaneously.
DSL modem—an ADSL transceiver, also known as an ADSL modem, used to connect one or more computers to a phone line to use an ADSL service. A DSL modem also can be referred to as a remote ADSL termination unit (ATU-R). An ADSL modem can also be configured to act as a router, managing the connection and sharing of the ADSL service with multiple computer or other networked devices. Such a combined device can be referred to as a DSL modem/router or similar terminology.
Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM)—a device enabling high-speed connections between telephone lines and a computer network such as the Internet. Typically it is located at a telephone company central office (CO) and connects multiple Digital Subscriber Lines (DSLs) to a computer network, typically the Internet, using a suitable multiplexing technique.
Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS)—equipment typically found in a cable company's headend that is used to provide data communication over the cable television infrastructure, thereby enabling the cable company to offer services such as broadband Internet access or VoIP to its subscribers. To provide high-speed data services (i.e., broadband access), a cable company typically connects its headend to the Internet using high capacity data links, directly or through a network service provider. On the subscriber side of the headend, the CMTS enables data communication with each subscriber's cable modem. Various CMTSs are capable of serving different cable modem population sizes, which can range from 4,000 cable modems to 150,000 or more. A given cable company headend may have only a few CMTSs, or a dozen or more, depending on the size of the cable modem population serviced by that headend.
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)—a system that automatically assigns Internet Protocol addresses (IP addresses), subnet masks, default routers, and other IP parameters, which are required for proper routing of data transmissions to or from a particular device connected to the network. The assignment usually occurs when a DHCP-configured computer, modem, router, or other device boots up or regains connectivity to the network. The DHCP client (i.e., DHCP software resident in the computer) sends out a query requesting a response from a DHCP server on the network. The query is typically initiated immediately after booting up and before the client initiates any IP-based communication with other hosts. The DHCP server then replies to the client with its assigned IP address, subnet mask, domain name server (DNS), and default gateway information (referred to as “stateful” assignment). The assignment of the IP address usually expires after a predetermined period of time, at which point the DHCP client and server renegotiate a new IP address from the DHCP server's predefined pool of IP addresses. Because, under DHCP, the IP address of a given computer varies over time, various network-related functions are more difficult. For example, configuring firewall rules to allow access to or from a machine that receives its IP address via DHCP is more complicated because the IP address varies from time to time. Network administrators typically must enable access to an entire remote DHCP subnet for a particular TCP/UDP port. Such complications arise in other instances as well. Many residential routers and firewalls are configured in the factory to act as DHCP servers for home networks. A computer can also be used as a DHCP server. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) generally use DHCP to assign individual IP addresses to subscribers. DHCPv6, which is the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6), enables local generation of IP addresses (i.e., “stateless” assignment). Although such stateless address auto-configuration of IPv6 substantially eliminates a prime motivation for DHCP in IPv4, DHCPv6 can still be used to statefully assign addresses if needed or desired by a network administrator. DHCPv6 can also be used to distribute information that is not otherwise discoverable, e.g., the domain name server.
Behavioral targeting—the delivery of specific advertisements to a subscriber, the advertisements being selected on the basis of activity of the subscriber, typically recent activity, including but not limited to: online searches conducted by the subscriber; content accessed by the subscriber online or on television; online advertisements viewed, clicked on, or otherwise accessed by the subscriber; online shopping or purchases made by the subscriber; and any other form of previous subscriber activity.
Central Ad Server (CAS)—a computer server that manages delivery of online advertisements to visitors of online sites. A local ad server can be typically run by a single online publisher to serve ads to visitors of websites of that publisher's Internet domains, or by a single advertiser to serve ads into ad space acquired by the advertiser on various other websites. A third-party or remote ad server typically is remotely located and delivers advertisements of various advertisers to visitors of websites of multiple domains owned by multiple publishers. The remote ad server acts as a central conduit for delivering advertisements, enabling advertisers and publishers to track the distribution of their online advertisements and to control the rotation and distribution of their advertisements across the Internet from one location. The advertisements can be stored on the CAS for later delivery, can be transmitted to the CAS and then delivered from the CAS upon receiving an ad request, or can be delivered from another source in response to an ad request received and routed by the CAS. Examples of third-party ad servers include DoubleClick's DART for Publishers central ad server (also known as DFP) and DoubleClick's DART for Advertisers central ad server (also known as DFA).
Profile provider—An entity that collects profile information that is used to target advertisements. In the context here, the profile provider cooperates with a CAS, which receives all or part of the collected profile information from the profile provider for use in targeting TV advertisements. User profile information derived from online activity can include observed online behavior of a user accessing the Internet or demographic information collected from a user accessing the Internet. Examples of profile providers can include, but are not limited to, any entity that owns or uses: (1) a visited Internet site server; (2) a server delivering content, images, audio, video, text, or any combination directed to an online user interface device (such as a computer or other online interface device) via an online access device (such as a modem or router), either directly or indirectly (e.g., via a redirect); (3) a server delivering an ad to an online user interface device via an online access device on behalf of an advertiser or an ad network; (4) a server recording an activity conducted from an online user interface device such as a click on an ad or a link to an ad, a viewing of an ad, a click on a link to particular content, a search, a request for product information, receipt of particular content, a product purchase, a telephone call made, or any other selected and definable user activity; or (5) a server facilitating instant messages or any other kind of communication on behalf of the user. Another example of a profile provider is: (6) a company sponsoring and having access to a computer program located on the user's computer or other online user interface device that can observe the user's online activity (with the user's permission), such as a browser toolbar or desktop search software. A profile provider, broadly, can be: (7) any entity able to collect behavioral profiles (observed online activity) or demographic profiles (provided by the user), preferably for purposes here including the IP address used when the profile was observed or collected and the date and time the profile was observed or collected, regardless of whether or not the entity collected a given profile directly through contact with the user's computer or indirectly from another entity such as those listed in this paragraph. In some cases, a user's online activity will result in direct contact between the online user interface device via an online access device and the profile provider, e.g., if the profile provider is an online commerce site, the user makes a purchase at the site, and the online commerce site generates a profile for that user. In other instances there may be no direct contact between the profile provider and the user, e.g., if the user makes a purchase at an online commerce site that in turn reports information pertaining to the user to the profile provider. In some situations, also, a profile provider might also own or otherwise control a CAS, in which case user profiles can be immediately available to the CAS without need for transmission between separate entities.
Profiles or partial profiles provided by a profile provider to a CAS can contain any quantity of profile information, such as, in one example, just an online access IP address used by a person at the time his profile was collected and the identity of the profile provider. The IP address can be provided by the profile provider itself or might be obtained by the CAS when a user engages in any online activity or provides an item of demographic information and is redirected by a profile provider to the CAS. In another example, a profile can be more extensive and can include demographic or behavioral information, such as an extensive browsing history, shipping or purchase histories, content viewed, and other information concerning the user's characteristics or the user's activities. Although the profile provider is an entity, many or most of the actions attributed to the profile provider are actually performed by equipment under the administrative control of the profile provider, such as computers, servers, software running on those computers or servers, network connection hardware or software, or other equipment. Such actions may still be characterized as being performed “by the profile provider,” whether performed automatically, semi-automatically, or manually.
Personally Identifiable Information (PII)—information that can be used to identify a specific person, including but not limited to: name, Social Security number (SSN), date of birth, street address, email address, static IP address (if any), phone number (home, work, wireless), financial account numbers (bank accounts, credit accounts, or any other financial data), driver's license number, vehicle registration number, vehicle license number, facial photographs, fingerprints, handwriting or signature, or any other information that can assist in identifying a specific person.
Non-Personally-Identifiable Information (non-PII)—information about a person that typically cannot be used to specifically identify that person, including but not limited to: city, state, or country of residence, age, gender, race, ethnicity, school or workplace (if sufficiently large), salary or income, hobbies, dynamically assigned IP addresses, online sites visited, online searches conducted, or other information that is useful to know about a person but done not by itself allow one knowing the information to identify the particular person.
Cookie—a text file placed on a user's computer by a server that also serves content to the user's computer using browser software. The cookie typically can be read or altered only by a server operating under the same Internet domain as the server that originally placed the cookie. The cookie file can be used to identify a computer that has already been in contact with the same domain and can also be used to store PII or non-PII pertaining to a user of that computer. In a first example, a cookie can store non-PII such as previous searches conducted at the site, or pages viewed or visited at the site, by the computer user. In a second example, a cookie can be used to store a username used by the user to access a site, customized preferences of the user, or various pieces of PII. It should be noted that a cookie file can also be created, altered, or deleted by software located on the user's computer.
Television advertisement (TV ad)—a full screen video ad, a partial screen video ad, a banner ad, a text ad, an audio ad, or any other form of advertisement suitable for delivery to and visual or audible presentation by a television set.
Various systems are used currently for targeting advertisements based on user/viewer/customer behavior. Many of these rely on the collection of personally identifiable information (PII) to enable correlation of the person exhibiting the behavior and advertisements targeted at that person. There are some examples wherein advertisements can be targeted without collecting PII, but in such examples it is typically the case that the medium of the behavior and that of the advertisement are the same. For example, many grocery stores hand out so-called “club cards” that need not be linked to PII. A shopper presents the card at checkout to receive various discounts, thereby allowing the store to link the list of purchased items to the card. As the system “learns” the shopper's purchasing habits, the system begins issuing coupons targeted at at purchases that the shopper has made previously or that the system predicts the shopper may wish to make based on past purchases. In another example, online advertisements are readily targeted based on an Internet user's online activities without using PII. The use of cookies enables an ad server to recognize an Internet site visitor who has been previously presented with ads by the ad server or who has conducted searches or accessed content at sites linked to the ad server. The ad server can target future advertising to the site visitor based on that previous activity. A user who has searched for airline tickets to southern California on an online travel site, for instance, can later receive targeted online advertisements for Disneyland, delivered perhaps while visiting some other online site, to the user's computer from an ad server that collected the user's search information from the online travel site.
It becomes more difficult to avoid the use of PII when it is desired to target advertising in one medium based on activity in another. Various schemes currently are implemented, under development, or being considered wherein PII is used, e.g., to target television advertisements based on a viewer's online behavior. Some of those schemes involve agreements or alliances among television providers, online access providers, online search portals, or online sites. The PII has typically been required to make the connection between the different media, because different devices are typically employed to access each one.
A significant shortcoming of many such cross-media ad-targeting systems is the need to use PII to target advertisements delivered in one medium based on user behavior in another medium. Battelle (John Battelle, The Search, Portfolio, N.Y., 2005) describes the delivery of personalized ads to a DVR based on observed online behavior of the DVR user (conducted searches, sites visited, etc., including PII) when he or she was using a personal computer for online access and further describes financially rewarding the user for watching the ad (e.g., by reducing the fee for the TV service or by offering “free” TV service). However, many consumers object to the merging or correlation of personally identifiable information and online behavior. Financial incentives such as free or reduced-fee games, screen-savers, content, or Internet access in return for information useful for targeting ads requiring collection and use of PII and data pertaining to online behavior generally have not proven to be attractive to the public in the past. Such combining of PII with online behavior data has proven particularly unattractive to consumers having larger incomes, who advertisers are especially interested in reaching.
An example of a cross-media ad-targeting system, planned to be implemented as a result of an announced alliance between Google and BSkyB, is a system wherein BSkyB can use searches conducted by their subscribers on the BSkyB Internet search portal to deliver targeted ads to the DVR's of those same subscribers. BSkyB already has PII pertaining to its television subscribers, so linking search results from its own search portal site may not seem too alarming to its subscribers. Nevertheless, PII is still required to target the television advertisements. However, many and perhaps most search sites and content sites accessed online are not owned or controlled by television service providers. In addition, many and perhaps most search sites and content sites do not typically collect PII to identify those users who access them online.
It is therefore desirable to provide systems and methods for delivering targeted television advertisements to users or viewers based on their online behavior (searches performed, sites visited, online ads viewed, an so on), but without using PII to link the television viewer to his or her online activity.